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Chicks On Anime - Censorship Part 1

The context of the manga Casey was talking about was that a little girl saw what she thought was two gay men and then freaking out. Sorry, but I'd freak out too if I was a little kid who'd never seen/heard of something like that before and only vaguely knew about AIDS. There's nothing "homophobic" about that.

Video games are the bigger issue and there a lot of violence is removed here. And of course it's forbidden to use Nazi symbols because of our history, and as far as I know they are always removed (at least in mainstream manga), with the consent of the Japanese publisher. I think the Nazi symbol removement is sometimes a little bit strange, because they are normally not used to advertise for Nazi ideology in mangas, but I think I can live with it.

I would love to hear a more conservative voice in this particular column. There was a lot of agreement in this column because the contributors have similar leanings. The conclusion of this column can be summed up (albeit, in a elementary way) as "some things are reprehensible, but they should still be made available unless proof of harm can be shown."

I'd go a step further and say they should be made available anyway (speaking only for myself, and not Casey or Bamboo). When I think about the things that offend me, my knee-jerk reaction is to think "Hey, that shouldn't be allowed." But then I remember all of the aspects of my life that I value that the more... let's say "pious"... section of the population is actively trying to outlaw (right to choose, equal marriage and adoption rights, etc) on supposedly moral ground. And then I think about how much the offensive material affects my life personally (which is none) and I calm down a bit. I suspect we're going to disagree fundamentally here, but that's how I feel about it.

Please feel free to contribute your thoughts here, though. The column is meant to be a discussion-starter for the forum, among other things, and I love reading all feedback and comments. It's an opportunity for new thoughts and viewpoints to be expressed that weren't covered in the column due to time or context restraints. I may not agree with you, but I'm glad you're expressing your views (since you're right, we didn't have much of a conservative voice in this discussion).

I just wanted to ask. What's wrong with Nipples? Why does everyone seem to have such an issue with nipples? I just don't get it a boob is still a boob nipple or no it's just you're seeing less of it. *sigh* Nipples are kinda the best part you know. Maybe that's it. (I'm trying to give a little levity to something which ought to be laughed at sometimes)

To me it's like this, if you don't like it, don't read. If it upsets you don't look at it. Like anything there are some things that some people will not have problem with, and other people will have a problem with.

asimpson2006 wrote:

To me it's like this, if you don't like it, don't read. If it upsets you don't look at it. Like anything there are some things that some people will not have problem with, and other people will have a problem with.

Oh My god thank you that was exactly what my next point was going to be. Especially in the US where it's a requirement for possibly questionable content to be clearly and obviously marked. As a parent if you are buying those sorts of things for your children shame on you and you have no right to complain. As far as people who get prosecuted for having it In public of course you should get a slap on the wrist for that.

Zac wrote:

LordPrometheus wrote: Showing a character being afraid of getting AIDS isn't "homophobic", regardless of how accurate Japan's knowledge of AIDS was at the time(especially considering that AIDS in humans started with gays). It is if your immediate reaction to an image of a same-sex couple is "I'm afraid of AIDS!" like all gay people have AIDS or will give you AIDS. That's homophobic, and ignorant.

Casey here. I should add, for those of you who have never read Please Save My Earth, something that it didn't occur to me to mention when we did the discussion: The heroine Alice is supposed to be a sweet, generous soul who loves all living things (and all living things love her back). Back when the manga was first written, her "I'm scared of AIDS!" comment would have looked like common sense in Japan. Now, with better dissemination of knowledge about HIV, it just looks like the misguided prejudice we know it to have been--and the mangaka certainly didn't intend for Alice to be read as a gratuitously prejudiced young person.

I would love to hear a more conservative voice in this particular column. There was a lot of agreement in this column because the contributors have similar leanings. The conclusion of this column can be summed up (albeit, in a elementary way) as "some things are reprehensible, but they should still be made available unless proof of harm can be shown."

I think we need to think about the moral quandries presented by having this type of material readily accessible. What kind of influence is this material having on generations of young men and women? Despite the lack of evidence showing violence against women resulting from pornography (as pointed out in the article), how can one deny that it has a negative effect psychologically and socially? Likewise, doesn't it just logically make sense that sexual depictions of underage girls would also damage us in the same way?

However, I do understand that morality is largely considered relative in America, and that freedom is part of the "American morality." Freedom of speech outweights almost any universal morality that might exist. It's unamerican (and admittedly, dangerous) to restrict free speech; but can a compromise be reached? Can restrictions be placed? And what is the line where the value of art is less or more important than the value of morality?

There is no evidence that pornography incites men to violence against women, anyway, though if definitive, empirical proof of it were to be found, I'd have to rethink my stance on the issues.

I was listening to a talk radio in my area last week about breast-feeding in public, and America definatly has a problem with breasts since they've been sexualized so much here (and most of the callers were men, not women).

classicalzawa wrote:

I was listening to a talk radio in my area last week about breast-feeding in public, and America definatly has a problem with breasts since they've been sexualized so much here (and most of the callers were men, not women).

Yay thank you so much for that. Boobs are wonderful and great, but seriously they are over sexualized.